I had this thought awhile back, and I'm finally getting around to posting something about it. As most of you know, Kyle and I are members at St. Peter Lutheran, which is a church plant from another Lutheran church in the Metroplex. (I guess most of you know, I don't know who all reads this thing. So on a completely different note, if you read my blog, holla!)
As we were dropping off the trailer one Sunday afternoon (as must be done every Saturday and Sunday, load up, drop off, reload, drop again), I started to notice something. The guy pulling the big trailer owned a landscaping business. I own a Mary Kay business. Kyle does not own his business, but has in the past, and is in the position where he has to go out and find his business. Then I thought about others in our church: a general contractor, a barber getting ready to own his own shop, the owner of a funeral home, a vet with his own practice, a jewelry repair man with his own store, a couple that owns their own CHL licensing classes, multiple realtors, and some that own their own home cleaning business.
Entrepreneurs have a different outlook on life. There is no "traditional" family schedule in an entrepreneurial family. You work until you're done, you carve out family time, but it may not be at the 6pm dinner time when most families eat, you stay up late and you get up early. You are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, because it's up to you to make it happen!
So what does this have to do with St. Peter?
I started to realize that a church plant is a lot like owning your own business. You start from just a simple idea, get others on board, and launch into it. You continue to do things most established "businesses" don't have to do (like setting up and tearing down your church each week), and your hours just aren't like "normal" people. (Again, like setting up and tearing down each week.) And isn't it funny that a church which requires so much extra care in these early stages is filled with entrepreneurs! I think it's something we're comfortable with - sure we complain about the extra steps sometimes, but in the end, we're willing to do what it takes to make our church succeed.
On September 11th, St. Peter closed on our own piece of property, and are preparing to build our very first building! I have to say, I'm pretty excited, as is everyone else in the church. This is an entrepreneur's dream - God has called us to it, blessed our mission, and it is coming to fruition!
So here's to the entrepreneurs, both in church, and in our own daily callings.
